


It don't take a word, not a single word (go on and kiss the girl)

by lilieswho



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anne is outraged Gilbert hasn't seen the little mermaid yet, Delphine truly is Bash's daughter, F/M, Fluff, Gilbert doesn't know the meaning of the word subtle, Gilbert is flirting so hard and Delly knows what's up, Halloween, Romance, Trick or Treating, obviously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27315586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilieswho/pseuds/lilieswho
Summary: “You have a… fork in your hair.”Anne frowned, surprised. “Yes. Have you not seen the Little Mermaid?”“Uh,” he scratched his neck, moving his eyes from his niece to Anne. “No.”-A Halloween AU where Gilbert is both clueless and not subtle.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 30
Kudos: 216





	It don't take a word, not a single word (go on and kiss the girl)

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Storybook girls and for Wednesday Addams. 
> 
> I never looked so cute in black.

Halloween was truly one of Gilbert’s least favorite holidays.

He used to love it when he was growing up, he remembered. It was a day of pretending, a day where anyone could be anybody and none of the problems of the world could ever reach them, because they were never themselves to begin with. They were always a superhero, ready to fight crime and save the world; a pirate, travelling the seas to find the most exquisite hidden treasures; or anything at all — from funny fruit costumes or even animals from a cartoon that _shouldn’t_ be directed at children — that, as his little niece always said to him, gave enough scope for the imagination.

Now, at twenty eight years of age, Gilbert was mostly annoyed with the holiday altogether. It wasn’t anything personal, not really. But, as a resident, there was nothing more frustrating than running to the ER to tend to a patient and finding out that most of their injuries were makeup and fake blood. Not to mention the drunk ones, who stepped right out of parties and managed to get in trouble in a five minute span of time and end up in his ER, giving him the hardest time while trying to treat a simple cut.

But what truly broke his heart was seeing the kids on the peds floor, wishing they could be with their friends trick or treating dressed up as the character they loved the most in the world. Even though the hospital allowed the kids to walk around the floor asking for candy the nurses distributed in each room, it wasn’t the same thing as being _outside_ enjoying the holiday.

Gilbert, as a student, was never able to take a day off on Halloween, having to be on call for all those frustrating accidents people managed to get in. But this year, no matter how many fake zombies or slutty nurses ended up in the ER that night, Gilbert wouldn’t be there.

_He was off duty._

Truly, Gilbert thanked his lucky stars that Doctor Winnie Rose was to be married the next day and had asked him to swap his shift with hers. Now, he would be able to spend the next thirty six hours in his home, watching whatever movie was on TV that evening and, maybe, enjoying some takeout. Just as he was about to turn on his car, his phone made a noise, indicating there was a text message.

_[5:12 pm] Bash: [picture attached]_

_[5:12 pm] Bash: [picture attached]_

_[5:12 pm] Bash: I know you’re busy, but Delly wanted me to show you her costume_

_[5:13 pm] Bash: we won’t be trick or treating today, Mary’s not feeling well. So you can come over if you want to eat some proper dinner when you get out_

_[5:13 pm] Bash: Mary’s words, not mine_

Gilbert opened the image and smiled, leaning back in his seat. Delly was posing in front of her bed, hands on her hips with a big smile, showing off her costume. He knew who she was dressed as— it was that fish character from the little mermaid movie Delly liked so much, but he couldn’t put a name to it.

She was wearing a bright yellow tutu dress with blue details and a pair of yellow tights, and Mary had even managed to sew a fish tail on the back of the dress, most likely something Delly insisted on. He could practically hear her say it: _“A fish_ needs _a tail, mommy.”_

_[5:17] Gilbert: Who’s that supposed to be, again? I know it’s from the mermaid movie…_

_[5:17] Bash: It’s Flounder, you moke. You bought her the stuffed animal for her birthday_

_[5:18] Gilbert: Oh, right. Mary did a great job w the costume, Delly looks adorable_

_[5:18] Gilbert: I’ll come over to give her a kiss and have a bite_

The drive from the hospital to Bash and Mary’s house was short, the end of the day rush traffic not as bad as usual, the commute only taking ten minutes. He parked in front of the brick house at the end of the street, fully decorated with Halloween paraphernalia, from fake spider webs on every corner of the front porch to numerous pumpkins carved in the front yard. 

Bash had wanted to add some zombies and witches as well, but Mary had said no, sure the neighborhood kids would be too afraid to knock on the door to ask for candy, not to mention Delly who, as much as she was excited for the holiday, surely would have trouble sleeping at night.

As Gilbert was about to turn the handle and walk inside his brother’s house, he heard Bash and Delly’s voices, caught up in what it seemed was a very interesting argument.

“Daddy, _please.”_

“We can go tomorrow, love. Mummy’s not feeling well.”

“But tomorrow all the candy will be gone!”

“I’m sure they’ll save some for you.” Bash’s voice was tired and Gilbert thought, maybe, that the conversation had been going on for a while. 

“But all the kids in the _world_ are going trick or treating tonight!” she insisted. Even from the other side of the door, Gilbert knew, if Mary wasn’t there to step in, it wouldn’t take much for Bash to give in his daughter’s wishes. He chuckled and let himself in.

“Hello? Is anyone home?” Gilbert called, closing the door behind him. “Someone told me there’s a little fish who wanted to see me…”

 _“Uncle Gilby!”_ the five year old shrieked, running towards him for a hug. Gilbert picked her up, kissing her cheek.

“There’s my favorite girl!” She smiled, hugging his neck. “At least I think this is her? I don’t remember my niece having a fishtail…”

“It’s a costume, you silly. Mummy made it for me for trick or treating! Do you like it?”

“Like it?” He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone but… I saw the other kids' costumes and I think yours is the best one.”

Before Gilbert could stop her, Delphine turned around, wriggling to get out of his arms. He put her back on the floor and the little girl quickly looked at her father, hands resting on her hips.

“See Daddy? My costume is the best one and I can’t show it to _anybody!_ Can we please, please, _please_ go trick or treating tonight?”

Bash took a deep breath, and Gilbert was able to take a good look at his brother and his surroundings. The house was a mess, which was unusual, with a pile of clothes to be folded on top of one of the couches, Delphine’s toys and drawings all over the floor, the coffee table covered with paper and color pencils. He could see the kitchen, behind Bash, was just as messy with a bunch of dishes in the sink to be washed.

His brother looked so tired. Since Mary had gotten pregnant a few months ago, Bash had insisted he’d be in charge of the house, cleaning and taking Delphine anywhere to help out Mary, since due to her age, she wasn’t feeling as well as she had during her previous pregnancy. They usually managed a good balance at home, but Bash was adamant he’d take all the load himself to make sure his wife and baby would be okay.

“I can take her,” Gilbert offered, flicking the costume’s tail, making Delly giggle. Bash looked at him, brows raised and Gilbert could see the relief in his eyes. “I just need to take a shower first, but it’s no big deal.”

“Don’t you have any procedures to study for tonight?” 

Gilbert shook his head. “Not tonight. And my next shift won’t be until Sunday, so I can spend as much time with my niece as I want.”

“Can he take me Daddy? Can he? Can he?”

“I don’t know…” Bash pretended to think, resting his hand on his chin. “You know how much Uncle Gilby hates Halloween. Are you sure you want to go with him?”

“Yes!”

Gilbert smiled. “Can I just take a shower first? Or do you want to go trick or treating with a smelly Uncle?”

“Hurry up! I’m gonna tell mummy.”

“How’s Mary doing, Bash?” Gilbert asked, as soon as Delphine closed the bedroom door behind her. His brother’s face fell, leaning against the wall. 

“She’s scared. I’m scared. Yesterday she couldn’t sleep, afraid something was wrong, so we called her doctor and explained what she was feeling. Everything was fine,” he hurried to say, noticing Gilbert’s worried expression. “But the baby might get here sooner than we expect,”

“You should’ve called me or showed up at the hospital, I’d make sure someone would take a look at her.”

“She didn’t want to wake Delly and make a fuss. If it was something urgent we would’ve called,” he reassured him. “We’re just tired.”

“While I’m taking her trick or treating, you two should try and get some sleep. The house can wait; you need all the rest you can get before that little one comes and sleep becomes non-existent.”

“Thank you, brother.” Bash’s smile was weak but genuine, which was enough for Gilbert. “Now go take your shower before Delly comes back and drags you out in your scrubs and all. Dinner will be ready when you’re back.”

It didn’t take more than five minutes after he left the bathroom dressed in some of Bash’s clothes for Delphine to grab his hand and pull him towards the door, a pumpkin basket clutched in her other hand. He couldn’t help but chuckle seeing his niece’s excitement once they made it to the first house with the light on.

On his drive over, Gilbert hadn’t paid much attention to the houses around him, but now that he was hand in hand with Delphine, his niece made sure to point out every scary thing her neighbors put in their front yards. From headstones with zombies crawling out of the ground to witches flying on their brooms on top of the roof, Bash’s neighborhood really had outdone themselves with the decorations this year.

When he was growing up, Gilbert had loved decorating his house with his dad. There wasn’t anybody as competitive as the two of them when it came to Halloween or Christmas and it was rare that they wouldn’t win best decorated house in their neighborhood. 

Of course, that was back then when all that mattered was mostly their pumpkin carving abilities, or how much fabric they were able to spare so Gilbert could rip it and find a way to make it look scary hanging in the windows. Now, most of the things were bought from the store and automated, which wasn’t a bad thing, but it wasn’t the same as his experience when he was a child.

“How do you want to do this then, Delly?” Gilbert asked, looking down at her. They were a few houses down, looking at the kids around them. The older ones were alone, but the ones about Delly’s age were either in a group of other kids or accompanied closely by an adult. “Does your daddy go with you to the door or you go alone?”

She rested her hand on her chin, thinking about it for a second. “He goes with me but I’m a big girl now so I can go alone.”

“Are you sure?” She nodded. “Even at the scary houses?”

“Well… Maybe at those you can come with me, if you’re too afraid to stay all by yourself…”

Gilbert bit his lip, trying not to smile. “You don’t mind? I just know I’d feel much better if you were with me.”

“Is that why you don’t like Halloween, Uncle Gilbert? Because you’re scared?”

“Yeah, something like that. Oh, look—” He pointed to a group of kids walking to the front door. “Why don’t you join them? I’ll be right here when you’re done.”

“Okay.” She smiled and ran to the other kids. 

They continued walking to the other houses, Delphine’s smile growing bigger every time someone gave her a compliment on her costume, especially when they said they hadn't seen any other kid with a costume like hers. 

As much as he wasn’t a fan of the holiday, Gilbert had to admit he was having a good time going trick or treating with Delly. He loved how excited she was by his company, holding his hand up until the moment she had to walk to the front door to get her candy, and then sharing the entire experience with him once she was back.. Even when he walked with her to the scary houses, she managed to tell him all about her day at school and the halloween party her teacher threw.

“Were you dressed as Flounder there too?”

She shook her head, like his question was the most absurd thing in the world. “No, I went as a ship captain!”

Gilbert snorted. That certainly had Bash’s finger on it, given how much he liked to brag about the time the both of them worked on a ship. But, unlike what he’d told Delphine, neither one of them were captains.

The next house was quite impressive, Gilbert had to admit it. Every other one was very on theme with the scary decoration, even though some were more invested than others, but this one stood out from a mile away. It started with the house itself, bright white with green gables and shutters, throwing off the whole neighborhood aesthetic without a care. But the decorations were what caught his attention more. There was a line of carved pumpkins, already lit, from the sidewalk to the front door. Each one of them had a different carving, from Disney princesses to Game of Thrones houses, all with the initials A.S.C on top of them.

The house was covered in spider webs, the windows decorated with silhouettes of numerous creatures — a ghost, a witch, a werewolf, bats and some pumpkins — and lit in a way that made it seem like they were moving. He was impressed how much thought was put into it, since most of the houses focused more on decorating the porch and the front of the house.

The yard was filled with leaves, witches surrounding a big cauldron with smoke coming out of it and scarecrows with the head of a pumpkin pointing to the front door. Gilbert felt Delphine hold his hand tightly as they walked closer to the house. There weren't any kids at this one, so Delphine would have to walk by herself if she wanted candy, which he didn’t think was going to happen.

“So, do you mind if I go with you?” he asked, as they stopped in front of the house. “I don’t think I can be here all by myself.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” she said, promptly. 

“Thank you, Delly,” he said looking down at her. “So, how scary do you think this house is?”

“I don’t think it’s very scary, I like the lanterns and the figures on the windows. I just don’t like the witches.”

“Yeah, I don’t like the witches either,” Gilbert agreed, looking at them for a second. “But you know what? They look very busy over there so I don’t think they’ll be a problem tonight.”

“Really?”

“Really. Plus we have all these cool jack-o-lanterns to get us there safely.”

They walked hand in hand to the door, with Delphine pointing out the pumpkins on the way every time she recognized the carving of something she liked. Gilbert was quite impressed with the amount of work the owners put into it, guessing it was the home of a family with a bunch of kids by how often Delly showed him any Disney references.

It was only when they were in front of the door that Delphine realized they had walked safely past the witches and was only one door away from her goal. Gilbert stepped back, watching her as she knocked confidently and smiled at him while they waited.

And then it hit him, how perfect that moment was. Bash had asked for pictures so Mary could see Delly and now that she was alone, with no kids around to jump in front of her or parents eyeing him for having his phone directed at their children without permission, he could do just that. The house was easily the best decorated, so it’d all be perfect.

“Delly, turn around,” he asked, already with the camera set up. The little one looked back at him, giving him a big smile when she realized what he was doing. Gilbert snapped a couple of pictures when the door opened and a woman, about his age, with hair that reminded him of the loveliest shade of orange sunset, stepped outside holding a basket of candy in her hands.

Delphine quickly turned her head back, opening her mouth to say trick or treat when she realized who was in front of her.

“Miss Shirley!” Delphine said excitedly, dropping her pumpkin basket and hugging the woman’s leg.

“Hello Delly.” She smiled at the little one, crouching next to the girl so she could hug her properly. “What a surprise! I didn’t know you lived nearby. And you can call me Anne when we’re not at school.”

She nodded, stepping back and taking a good look at her costume. Her eyes widened, just realizing who she was dressed as. _“You’re Princess Ariel!”_

Gilbert looked up at Delly’s teacher, taking in her costume. She was wearing a purple sequined strapless top, and a high waisted, long green skirt covered in green sequins, mimicking scales, with a glittery green organza overlay, hugging her curves in all the right places. Her hair was down her back, with a single strand tucked behind her ear.

Gilbert didn’t think he’d ever seen someone as beautiful as the woman standing in front of him.

Anne smiled at his niece, hands on her hips. “And you’re Ariel’s best friend! Look how beautiful you look in that Flounder costume!”

“My mommy made it. Look! Look! I have a tail too!” She turned around, shaking her hips to make the fishtail move along with her.

“I think this is the prettiest costume I’ve seen today.” Her eyes drifted to Gilbert, as if she just realized he was standing there. “Oh, I’m sorry. How terribly rude of me. I’m Anne, Delly’s teacher.”

“That’s Anne with an E, Uncle Gilby,” Delphine explained, almost like she was telling him the most important information in the world. Gilbert chuckled and shook her hand.

“Gilbert Blythe, Miss Anne with an E. I’m Delly’s uncle.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Blythe.” She smiled, looking satisfied. “I must say, you look quite different from Delly’s drawings. Your hair is usually blue, if I recall.”

Gilbert smiled at the mention of it. His apartment was filled with Delly’s art of them together— his favorite one was her drawing of them picking apples in Bash’s backyard, with his hair a deep shade of purple in that one. 

“Yeah, well—” He looked to his niece for a moment before his eyes moved back to Anne. “I don’t know why, when she knows my favorite color is _red.”_

The blush that flooded Anne’s cheeks was so evident, Gilbert had a hard time maintaining eye contact with her for much longer. He didn’t mean to imply anything with that comment— his favorite color really was red— but in sharing that information, looking directly at her, it seemed like Gilbert was implying something else, which wasn't the case.

Well. 

_Actually._

If he was asked right now what his favorite color was, he’d probably change his answer to the shade of Anne’s hair. Her auburn tresses were beautiful, the color, as lively as her eyes, matching the small and faint freckles on top of her nose, not totally covered by her makeup. He didn’t think he’d seen anyone as beautiful as her and the urge to tell her so was almost too much, so Gilbert decided to change the focus back to his niece.

He cleared his throat.

“Don’t you have something to say to Miss Anne?”

“Yes!” She grabbed her plastic pumpkin basket from his hands, smiling brightly at her teacher. “Trick or treat!”

“Oh, here you go,” Anne handed her a good amount of full size candy bars, earning a squeak from Delly. “Don’t tell the other kids, but even Ariel has something special for her friends at sea.”

“I won’t tell, I promise!”

“Well, I see that Miss Anne’s candy made your basket pretty full… I guess that means we should head back home, don’t you think?”

Delphine turned to him, mouth open in disbelief at what he had just said. It had barely been half an hour since they’d left her house and he knew she wanted to visit as many as possible before it got too dark, which wasn’t yet. 

_“No!_ It’s not full at all, I have plenty of space _and_ we have a lot more candy to get!”

“I think you have enough candy for yourself already.”

“But what about little brother?” she asked with her hands on her hips, in a disapproving tone that reminded him of Mary. “And Daddy? And Mommy and Elijah? I need enough for _everybody_.”

His expression softened at her words. He was only teasing Delphine, but Gilbert couldn’t help but smile at that. As young as Delphine was, she never got to the phase of not wanting to share her belongings with everyone else. Everyone thought that with the arrival of her new baby brother jealousy would hit and she’d become a little more possessive with her things, but it was quite the contrary. Her excitement to share everything with him was more frequent as the pregnancy progressed.

Gilbert knew he was supposed to not think anything of the sort, but with every day he got to spend with his niece, he knew it would become a little harder not to have a favorite. Not when Delphine was this adorable.

“Hang on a second,” he said, mimicking her gesture and resting his hands on his hips. “Why am I not a part of that list?” 

“Because,” she answered slowly, like she needed to explain this very carefully for him to understand. “You don’t like Halloween.”

 _“What?”_ he heard Anne say next to him. Turning back to face the redhead, he was met with pure disbelief, and a little outrage in her eyes. “You don’t like Halloween?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it…” he said, trying to think of a better way to explain the situation, but Delly cut him off before he had the chance.

“It’s because he’s scared but I don’t think that’s a reason not to like Halloween. We get to dress up and have candy and that’s plenty of reasons to like it, isn’t that right, Miss Anne?”

“That’s right, Delly.”

“Oh, so if _both_ of you agree, I guess that means that I’m in the wrong without getting to defend myself, huh?” 

“Yep,” Delphine answered, giggling. “We’re in pretty costumes so we _win.”_

Gilbert smiled, looking at Anne. She really was in a very pretty costume, but Gilbert suspected that if she was wearing a potato sack he’d still have a hard time taking his eyes off of her. 

He was so glad that he had volunteered to take Delly out tonight.

If Bash was there, he’d surely mock Gilbert endlessly for… doing whatever he was doing right now. Gilbert wasn’t exactly as subtle as he hoped he was, according to his brother, but Gilbert suspected he only said that because Bash knew him too well and read his emotions better than anyone else. Even so, it was best if he could keep them in check to make sure he wasn’t doing anything remotely creepy without realizing.

“Uncle Gilby, why are you staring at Miss Anne?”

Or, of course, Delphine could point it out, loudly.

Anne looked at him and he couldn’t help but blush at being caught red handed.

“I was just...uh… looking at her costume.” That was such a bad excuse that he could hear Bash’s laughter in his mind. He needed to say something else to take the focus off of him. Luckily, Anne turned her head slightly to the right and something caught his eyes. “You have a… fork in your hair.”

Anne frowned, surprised. “Yes. Have you _not_ seen the Little Mermaid?”

“Uh,” he scratched his neck, moving his eyes from his niece to Anne. “No.”

“Uncle Gilby is a doctor, he always sleeps when he’s watching movies with me because he’s so very tired,” Delly explained, holding his hand firmly. “He likes Brother Bear! He says Daddy is like Koda, because he’s annoying, but _I_ think Daddy is more like Sebastian from the Little Mermaid because he speaks just like my daddy and has the same name! And my mommy is like Princess Tiana because she cooks so good and is the most pretty girl in the whole world!”

“Tiana is the frog movie, right?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. Delphine nodded excitedly. “Is there a doctor in any of these movies that looks like me?”

Delphine stopped for a moment, thinking hard. “No, I don’t think there is. But being a doctor is _boring._ No one wants to be a doctor. They work _all the time_ and are always tired. Plus, you always come home smelly.”

Anne snorted, biting her lip when he looked at her. The amusement in her eyes was so endearing that it was almost worth being roasted by a five year old in front of a pretty girl. 

“Well, who am I supposed to be then?”

She looked at him and gave him a big smile. “Prince Eric! You look just like him _and_ he was also on a ship. That’s how Ariel met him, she saw him on his ship and she fell in love.” Delphine looked back at Anne, expectant.

Gilbert could feel his face burning and, as he looked over to Anne, he could see she wasn’t any different. Delphine truly was Bash’s daughter. 

“Uh, right,” he cleared his throat. “Shall we go? We still have a bunch of houses to hit before we head back home.”

“What about Miss Anne?”

“What about Miss Anne?” he repeated, confused. 

“She said she’s home alone and it’s _Halloween_ and she always says we should have fun on Halloween. Being alone isn’t fun.”

“Uh…” 

_“And_ she’s wearing a pretty costume! Maybe she can come with us to get candy!” Delly suggested, looking back and forth between Gilbert and her teacher.

“What do you say?” Gilbert asked, when Anne stayed quiet. “The more the merrier.”

“I really should stay home to hand out the candy…”

“Pleeeease?”

“Yes, _please,_ Miss Anne?” He raised a brow, smiling, hoping Delly’s pleas would have the same effect on her that they always had on him. “Would you like to come trick or tricking with us?”

“That’s very sweet of you, Delly, but if I’m not here, who’s going to hand out the candy to the other kids?”

“You can leave it _outside,_ like the other houses. _Please,_ Miss Anne...”

Gilbert could see the hesitation in her eyes as she tried to think of something else to say to Delphine. Her eyes flitted back to his, as if asking if that would be alright with him.

“Flounder can’t go without Ariel,” he shrugged. “It wouldn’t make sense, now, would it?”

Half an hour later, Gilbert was sure he was about to lose his mind.

Ever since they’d left Anne’s house, Gilbert had tried his best not to sound like an idiot. It all started fine, with them chatting with Delphine about the decorations and how much candy she had so far, barely having time to exchange more than two sentences with each other before his niece pointed out something that caught her eye.

But then they bumped into one of Delly’s friends with her mom and she asked him if she could play with her friend for a little while in the yard while the mom ran back inside to make an important phone call. And suddenly it was just Gilbert and Anne, standing next to each other, awkwardly watching the young girls exchange candy on the porch.

Growing up, Gilbert had no problem talking to people. Every single kid in his class was his friend and he was one of the most social people in school. Even now, at his job, Gilbert made sure to talk to everyone around him, being on a first name basis with pretty much all of them, getting invited to after work drinks and occasional weddings and birthdays here and there. 

But right now, he was having a hard time thinking of anything to say to break the ice with Anne. She, however, seemed fine with the silence, more focused on admiring the tree in the middle of Delly’s friend’s front yard.

“Have you ever wished to have your hair match the seasons?” she asked, suddenly. Gilbert looked at her, a little confused, and she continued. “I mean, wouldn't it be just wonderful to have a full head of blossoms in the summer or pretty spring buds?”

“Uh…”

“I guess I already have the autumn colors, even though it’s not nearly as vibrant or pretty as the leaves, but a comfort, nonetheless.” She turned her attention back to Gilbert. “What do you think?”

“I think your hair is very pretty,” he managed to say, still a little confused by her sudden topic of conversation. Anne rolled her eyes, cheeks slightly pink.

 _“No,_ I’m asking what do you think about your hair matching every season.”

“Oh.” He scratched the back of his neck, thinking for a second. Anne’s eyes were fixed on his, waiting patiently for his answer. “I’m not sure if that’d be a good idea when winter comes, to be honest. The trees don’t have any leaves on them, so I’m guessing my hair for that entire season would be nonexistent and I definitely can’t pull that off.”

Anne bit her lip, considering. “I didn’t think about that. Perhaps not a good idea then.”

“Well…” he started to say, but was interrupted by a loud gasp. 

_“Look, Mum, it’s The Little Mermaid!”_ a girl in a white costume a few feet away from them said, dropping her basket and running towards him and Anne with her arms open. Anne was quick enough to kneel to receive the hug. The girl giggled in Anne’s arms as her mother walked over to the couple with an apologetic look on her face.

“I’m so sorry,” she started, shaking her head. “She let go of my hand before I could do anything.”

“It’s alright,” Anne answered, when the little girl pulled away from her embrace. She couldn’t be more than four years old, Gilbert thought, as she looked back at her mom. “We princesses must always say hi to each other, isn’t that right?”

The girl nodded excitedly, smiling ear to ear. It was only then that Gilbert realized what the little girl’s costume was supposed to be: Princess Leia. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at himself. The hair alone should’ve given it away. 

“Well, now that you met Ariel, we should get going, darling,” the mom suggested, reaching out for her daughter. The suggestion only made the girl return to Anne’s arms. “Honey, Princess Ariel needs to go back to the… sea and we need to go home.”

“Can’t I go with her? I want to say hi to Flounder and Sebastian too…”

“Oh, Flounder and Sebastian are asleep now, honey. What if… uh, I took a picture of you so you can show your friends tomorrow?” the mother asked, eyeing Anne and Gilbert, silently asking if that would be alright.

“What a wonderful idea!” Anne said, looking at the little girl. “What do you say?”

The girl looked at her for a moment before nodding, much to her mother’s relief. Anne stood up, fixing her skirt before picking up the girl in her arms.

“Big smile, yeah?” Anne said, looking at the mom’s phone. After a couple of pictures, the little girl looked at Gilbert expectantly, reaching her hand out for him to join them. His eyes moved to Anne, confused, but she just gestured with her head for him to come along.

It was awkward to say the least. He already was confused as to why he was a part of the picture in the first place, considering he wasn’t wearing any costume. But to stand next to Anne and not know what he was supposed to do with his arm — should he rest it on Anne’s shoulders? Or hips? Or _anywhere else?_

Choosing to do none of the above, Gilbert stood still, smiling and trying not to look too awkward. The mother took another few pictures before saying they should probably go. The girl hugged Anne one more time and gave Gilbert a kiss on his cheek before running back to her mother.

“Thank you so much, again,” the mother said, taking her kid’s hand. “You two surely make a very kind and attractive couple.”

Gilbert felt his cheeks heat at the comment, avoiding looking at Anne. Now that he thought about it, two people their age walking around together with a five year old, especially when Anne and Delphine were wearing costumes from the same movie, did seem like something a couple would do.

Right?

“Bye, bye Ariel!” the girl said, waving at them as they walked away.

“May the force be with you!” Anne waved back, still smiling. She turned to look at Gilbert. “That was so cute!”

“Yeah, it was…” He scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, why did she—”

“Look! Look!” Delphine came rushing back to them, looking very pleased with herself. “Lana had _two_ Snickers to trade! Mommy loves them!”

“She’s going to be so excited! Did you get any Kit Kats to share with me?” Delphine nodded, as they started to walk over to the next house. “Good girl.”

As they walked around the neighborhood, Anne _and_ Gilbert were stopped three more times by little kids to say hi and take pictures. The last one was a twelve year old girl who, according to Anne, blushed furiously when Gilbert put his arm around her shoulders for the picture. He hadn’t noticed, too busy trying to keep an eye on Delphine gathered around some kids asking for candy.

The comments about them being a couple hadn’t stopped either. A grandma looked quite pleased that “that nice couple” were willing to record a message to the grandchild who was at home sick and missing out on Halloween night. Anne didn’t seem to mind that much whenever people mentioned their alleged relationship, as if that sort of reaction was normal, but Gilbert was a little bothered by it.

Not that he was offended to be confused as Anne’s boyfriends. He should have been so lucky if that was true, he thought to himself. However, he wondered if he had done anything to make people think that. Were people paying too much attention to their conversations? Or was Gilbert’s face betraying him and everyone could see how he was clearly into her?

 _You wear your heart on your sleeve, Blythe._ He could hear his brother’s voice in his head, making him groan internally. If he wasn’t being subtle about it, did that mean Anne had also caught on?

The last straw happened when Gilbert received a text from Bash checking on them. He shot a text back, sending some of the pictures he took of Delphine before realizing he hadn’t been in any of them. He already spent most of his time working and when he managed to have quality time with his niece, his phone was the last thing on his mind. Most of the visual representations he had with her were the drawings she made, proudly displayed on his fridge door.

“Hey, Delly.” She turned around, her big brown eyes cast on him. “What do you say we take a picture for me to put on my wall back home?”

“Which one?” she asked, already walking back to him.

“Which one is your favorite?” he asked back, crouching so they could be at the same eye level. She bit her lip, thinking for a moment before giving him a big smile.

“The one in front of your desk with the big books. That way you can see me when you’re studying and miss me all the time.”

“I already miss you all the time,” he told her, pulling her closer and dropping a kiss on her cheek. It was hard to ignore the little sting in his heart at her honesty, especially when he knew there was a good reason for that answer. “But deal. If we take a lot, I can put one on your bedroom wall so _you_ miss me all the time.”

Delly giggled, nodding excitedly. He grabbed his phone from his back pocket and changed it to the front camera mode, getting ready to snap a few selfies of them, when Delphine noticed what he was about to do.

“Not that way! It doesn’t show my fishtail.”

“I can help you with that,” Anne offered, holding out her hand for the phone. He tried not to think much of it when her soft fingers lingered a beat too long as he handed her his phone, but it was hard to ignore the tingling that followed when she pulled her hand back.

After a few snaps of him and Delly making faces and funny poses, Delly pointed to Anne. “Now one with Miss Anne!”

“Okay.” He stood up, reaching for his phone back, but Delphine pulled his shirt before he could take another step. “What’s wrong?”

“I want Miss Anne in the picture too! With you and me so you can put it on your wall too.”

His eyes moved to Anne’s, and Gilbert could see the hesitation in her eyes with the mention of their picture hanging on his wall. The situation was uncomfortable, even if the five year old was oblivious to all of it, her innocent request for the sole purpose of having two of the people she liked the most for a simple enough thing such as a picture.

She met his eyes and Gilbert did his best to send her a reassuring smile, thinking it was, somehow, a good enough gesture to keep her at ease. _What a silly little thing to say, isn’t that right?_ he thought, without moving his eyes off of her, as if she could read his thoughts.

“We’ll just have to find someone to take the picture for us then.” Anne looked around. A woman in her thirties made eye contact and it was all Anne needed to approach her. “Excuse me, do you mind taking a picture of us?”

“Oh, not at all!” Anne handed her the phone and walked to Gilbert and Delphine, standing next to the young doctor. Delphine quickly held Anne’s hand, looking at the woman in front of them and giving her her best smile. “Could you two come a little closer together?”

“You should hug Miss Anne too, Uncle Gil! So it looks like we’re together.”

“Uh…”

This was stupid. Gilbert hadn’t ever been as awkward and uncomfortable around people as he was with Delly’s teacher. And as much as he tried to tell himself there was no reason why he was behaving that way, a little part of him knew what was going on. The… _accidental_ flirting back at her house made it clear enough and Anne wasn’t dumb.

“Yeah, do it like Mommy and Daddy!”

Sometimes Delphine’s innocence was a little inconvenient.

“Is that… okay?” he asked, blushing slightly. “To put my arms around your shoulder?”

Anne looked at him for a few seconds, with a soft expression on her face. Her eyes were a little surprised as well, as if she was not expecting him to ask something of the sorts.

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Trying not to blush at the contact of Anne’s skin turned out to be a challenge. It shouldn’t be, not really. If he thought rationally about it, it was just skin and he was a doctor. Professionally, he touched much more private parts or even the inside of someone and didn’t even blink an eye. Personally, he had done much more than brushed his fingers on someone’s shoulders. He knew he was being weird about it and the chances of her not noticing were slim. 

Gilbert tried to focus on the woman in front of him, taking a few steps back to frame them perfectly, and attempting to relax his shoulders a bit. She snapped a few pictures of them and the only one moving was Delphine, who, unable to stay still for too long, decided to do funny faces that’d probably end up as his phone screensaver.

“Okay, everyone, big smile now.”

“She means you, Uncle Gilby.”

Anne snorted next to him, trying and failing to bite down a laugh at Delphine’s words. She turned her face to him, laughing freely, and he felt his cheeks warming up. He tried to follow the stranger’s instruction, but he was too distracted to do anything but pay attention to the sound of Anne’s laugh, which he was sure was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard in his life.

The woman walked towards them, giving Gilbert his phone back before she promptly turned to Anne, complimenting her costume just like everyone else had done that night.

He looked to his phone, examining the pictures of the three of them. Delphine, as he imagined, managed to take only a couple of pictures without making a face at the camera, sticking her tongue out and making a fish face in the other ones. The next thing his eyes landed on was Anne, looking straight at the camera with a large smile that reached her eyes, making the corners wrinkle up. It almost made it the perfect picture, if it wasn’t for the man next to her, stiff as a board with his hand around her shoulders.

The next picture, though, was something else. The woman had snapped the picture when they weren’t looking, and, by far, it was his favorite. Delphine was the only one looking towards the camera, her eyes shining, almost like she knew something no one else did, an expression she had inherited from her mother. The smile on her face, though, softened her expression and, if Gilbert didn’t know any better, he’d say that the look in her eyes meant nothing at all.

Naturally, Anne was the next thing his eyes were drawn to. The picture managed to capture Anne’s hair in contrast with the sunset behind her. It made him think of fire and how it seemed to fit Anne’s personality so well, even if he hadn’t known her for very long. The boldness of her eyes as she spoke about the strangest subjects with the utmost confidence, asking him about the seasons and his hair, talking to Delphine and the other little girls who asked for a picture, or even by the way she looked at him as if she was expecting something he wasn’t sure what was. 

She was looking at him mid laugh, her eyes crinkling in amusement, probably enjoying how flustered he looked at that moment, with his cheek slightly pink. He was sure that if anyone else were to look at that picture, they’d never guess they had met merely an hour ago.

“Oh, that one looked great,” the woman said to him. “You three make a very sweet family.”

“We’re not—”

 _“Daddy, daddy, look! It’s Ariel!”_

There was no time to finish his statement as a couple of kids ran towards Anne, with their father behind them wearing a tired smile. Delphine quickly walked back to him, reaching for his hands, as they watched them take a few pictures and hoping no one would ask him to join them. Unfortunately, one of the girls turned around and noticed his presence, eyes growing wide as if she did not believe what she was seeing.

His eyes moved to Anne, who was clearly doing her best not to laugh, before asking him to join them for a few pictures. After a lot of promises to say hi to the other mermaids and to Sebastian, the father thanked both of them and walked towards the next house.

“What is happening?” he asked, as soon as the kids were far enough away not to hear them. He tried to keep his voice casual, looking at her attentively to see if she was aware of it as well. “I mean, I get why they want a picture with you, but I don’t get why I am a part of it.”

“They think we’re dressed as a couple.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You know, Ariel and Prince Eric.” Gilbert frowned, confused, making Anne sigh. “Why do you think Delphine called you Prince Eric before? You’re dressed exactly like him.”

“What?” Gilbert looked down at the clothes Bash had lent him. It was just a pair of jeans, some boots, a white shirt and a red belt that Gilbert gave him a few years ago for his birthday. How was that a look of a prince?

Anne typed something on her phone and handed it to him. She was right, Gilbert was pretty much in a Prince Eric costume without realizing it. The only thing he could actually point out that was different was how Eric’s hair wasn’t at all the mess of curls Gilbert’s was.

He wondered if Bash knew what he was doing when he handed him the clothes.

“It’s one thing not to have watched the movies, but I thought you were dressed like that on purpose. You know, to match with Delly,” Anne said, putting back her phone. “How could you not know?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Growing up it was just me and my dad and I liked helping him out so we didn’t spend too much time in front of a TV.”

“Well, neither did I.” Anne looked at him, a little hesitant, as if she was considering saying something she shouldn’t. “I could say that I need to know those movies because of the kids, but I would be lying if I said that was the only reason I watched them all.”

“The ones I’ve watched with Delly I enjoyed, I suppose. Do I have a few on my blacklist to never ever watch again? Of course, but who doesn’t?”

Anne raised her brows, curious. “Which ones?”

“Well, to start with, we have _Frozen._ I think Mary sewed three different Elsa dresses for Delphine, so you can guess how many times she watched that movie. And then we have _Despicable Me_ with the minions fever. I swear to god, there was a point in my life I couldn’t handle looking at the color yellow.”

“I’ll give you the minion fever, that one was too much. _And_ even though Frozen deserved the praise it got, I have to admit that there was a week or two I did everything I could to change the kids’ focus from the movie to literally anything else.”

“Did that work?”

“No, I had to ask a friend to come in dressed as Elsa one time. She wasn’t pleased about it, she’s not really a kid person.”

“Believe me, if I had it my way, I’d never listen to that song again.”

“I don’t know,” Anne said, biting her lip. “You can’t share all your thoughts out loud with someone you don’t know. Have you never heard of _conceal don’t feel, don’t let them know?_ ”

Gilbert groaned. “Well, clearly, _now they know.”_

“Then _let it go,_ Gilbert. You _can’t hold back anymore.”_

“You’re right. _I don’t care what they’re going to say!”_

They looked at each other and started to laugh at how ridiculous this conversation was. It was nice, he thought, to talk to Anne like that. The awkwardness between them due to the constant comments about them being a couple were slowly fading as they talked and joked like they’d known each other much longer.

It had been a while since he’d felt that comfortable with someone new, especially a woman he clearly had an interest in. There was no point in pretending it wasn’t what was happening anymore — even Delly was aware of it by now. It was probably the reason why flirting with her came so effortlessly 

“So,” he said, after a few moments of silence. “A kindergarten teacher, huh.”

“Not as fancy as a doctor _,_ I suppose, but arguably just as important.” She looked at him with a smile on her lips. “While you fix brains, I shape their minds to get to the point where they’re able to fix brains.”

“If you’d like, I can recommend some very interesting books for your five year olds about cognitive science I’m sure they’ll love. Best to start right away if they wish to pursue a career in medicine,” he joked. 

“I don’t believe in that,” Anne said, looking at him, jokes aside. “Of course we all have our talents and we should develop them to the best of our abilities but some things you don’t know you’re born to do until you try it. It’s not about studying, it’s about learning.”

“I couldn’t agree more. After school, I had an idea of what I wanted to do but I was heartbroken and I could hear my dad’s voice telling me I should take a break and make sure that’s what I wanted to do. I spent the next two years on a ship, going all sorts of places while earning my keep there. That’s where I met Bash, Delphine’s dad.”

“That’s what she meant before then.”

He nodded. “In the end, I decided that medicine was really what I wanted to do, but it wouldn’t have been the same if I had started right away. The best way of learning is experiencing it, my dad used to say. If it has a good or bad impact on your life, _that’s_ what makes you who are and it might surprise you with something you weren’t even looking for. For me, it was a family.”

_“I’m a part of all that I have met,”_ he said after a moment. The image of his fifteen year old self sitting next to his father popped in his mind. Whenever Gilbert thought about his dad, the memories were strictly of his childhood, before things started to fall apart. 

“That’s Tennyson,” Anne said, quite impressed, he noticed. “You read Tennyson.”

“Not as much, I’m afraid.” He shrugged, a little overwhelmed with the memory. “He was my dad’s favorite author. I used to read to him at night.”

“I actually reenacted The Lady of Shallot when I was younger.” He raised his brow, a hint of a grin playing at his mouth. “I grew up on a farm, so we had access to a lake and a boat and— _don’t laugh!”_

“I’m not laughing!” He raised his arms, trying to hold back a smile. “What happened next?”

Anne hesitated, studying his face before continuing. “The boat had a hole and it sunk. I was trapped under the bridge, hugging a pillar for almost half an hour until my friend’s dad rescued me.”

“Not quite the romantic turnout, I imagine.”

“Well, there’s a reason why I called myself the bride of adventure, back then.” She laughed, avoiding looking at him. It was cute, he thought, to see her flustered like that. Saying things like that to a stranger was surely awkward and he would never want to make her feel uncomfortable about it, but Gilbert couldn’t seem to change the subject now that it seemed she might offer up something about her current relationship status.

“Oh?” he said, moving his eyes back to check up on Delphine, trying to make the situation better.

“It’s for the best, really.” He could see her tucking a strand of hair behind her ear out of the corner of his eyes. “I guess Austen, Tennyson, the Brontë sisters and many other literary friends made me believe in an unachievable love story that just happens in books.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” he started, watching her intently. “After all, _love lies hidden in every rose,_ don’t you agree?”

“You’re very well read for a doctor,” she pointed out, a soft smile in her lips. “Are you sure you’re in the right profession?”

“You tell me. I’d guess after that memorable reenactment of Tennyson you’d pursue a career in the performing arts and steal the audience’s hearts away.”

“As much as I have a tendency for the theatrics, I feel like they’re in much better use on sock puppet Wednesdays and I doubt those performances will steal my five year old students’ hearts.”

“I don’t know about that,” He kept his eyes on Delly, who was in the middle of another group of kids, all gathered in front of a door waiting for candy, but looked back at Anne for a moment. “If I had a teacher like you when I was her age, I definitely would have had a crush on her.”

Anne quirked her brows, blushing slightly. “Oh, well, I guarantee you wouldn’t. Just a week ago a boy in my class pulled on my braid when I told him he shouldn’t put paint in his mouth. Would you have a crush on someone who told you not to do such a thing?”

“I guess that’d be a deal breaker for some, but not for me. As a future doctor, I’d have understood your intentions. And for the little boy… Isn’t there a saying about how pulling a girl’s braid usually means they like them?”

At that, Anne crossed her arms and turned to him. “So are you saying that you comply with the idea that a girl should interpret any form of aggression as a sign of affection?”

“I never said that. If someone ever pulled Delphine’s hair, I’d probably tell her to hit that boy with a book. I only meant that a boy with a crush would do anything to get the girl’s attention. I never said that they’re right in pulling their hair.”

“You seem very keen with the idea of physical harm, doctor Blythe. What happened with ‘ _do no harm’?”_

“I’m still a resident, so I guess I have some things to learn.” Gilbert shrugged, making Anne smile. He took a step closer in her direction, slowly lifting his hand to the end of her hair. “Tell me, what would your take be on me pulling your hair?”

Gilbert’s gaze was fixed on Anne’s eyes, her hair still wrapped around his finger. If he was being honest, he had no idea where any of this was coming from; he was usually quite awkward at flirting— not from being out of practice, per se, as whenever he was interested in a girl, he’d take a shot— but some people just weren’t cut out for it. But in that moment, everything felt quite natural to him, the words flying out of his mouth before he could even think them through.

He hadn’t expected to act like this, given she was not only a stranger but also Delly’s teacher, not to mention so out of his league. Anne was about a head and half shorter than him, but held herself so high, so sure and confident, it wasn’t hard to feel intimidated by the woman. And she was beautiful, _God,_ he had never met anyone as stunning as her.

Whenever he was interested in someone, there were two things he paid attention to to decide how far that relationship would probably go. The first thing was what inevitably made him interested in her in the first place: her brain. If Gilbert could point to something that attracted him in a woman most, it was how she’d connect with him on an intellectual level of any kind. It didn’t matter what kind of topic she was interested in, he found himself drawn to a good discussion and strong opinions every time.

And the second one would definitely be their interest in children. Not necessarily wanting to have kids of their own— that wasn’t something Gilbert was even thinking about, to be quite honest— but their general interest in them. It was no secret that that was one hundred percent due to Delphine, who was arguably the best thing in his life. 

And even if Anne fit those two requirements, there was just something about her that he couldn’t exactly point to what it was. Yes, she was smart and he would love to sit down with her over coffee and discuss Tennyson for hours on end. She was also a kindergarten teacher and it was clear she not only loved her job but also her students, so that also checked. But the reason why he was attracted to Anne was just because she was… Anne. 

Logically it made no sense. Her being Anne was the same thing as saying water was wet: obvious and redundant, but he couldn’t explain it better than that. He liked the way her eyes shined with interest when he shared his opinions, even though it was about kids’ movies, nonetheless, or how she engaged in deep conversations with Delly about the color purple like she was talking about a serious subject, such as rocket science. He liked the way Anne smiled when she talked about her job and her students, showing how passionate she was about it, or when she questioned him about the trees, like she needed an input on an internal debate she had been having with herself for quite some time. 

That was just _Anne._ His logical, practical brain couldn’t make sense of it, but something inside of him knew exactly what it meant and maybe, perhaps being _Anne_ was the third thing he looked for in someone he might be interested in.

“I’d probably hit you with a book,” she finally said, voice a little over a whisper. She blinked slowly, eyes moving to his lips for a second before looking back up to his eyes. The action was so fast he could’ve mistaken it for something else or even missed it, but as bad as he was with the whole flirting thing, Gilbert wasn’t dense. She looked at him the same way he surely was looking at her.

Suddenly, he couldn’t hear the kids laughing and running in the streets. He couldn’t even see the lights in the houses or anyone else walking past them, surely annoyed that they were in the middle of the sidewalk just looking at one another. Gilbert's focus was solely on the girl standing in front of him with the beautiful grey eyes and with the most inviting lips that he wished to touch.

If she only took a step closer, he’d be able to lean down and—

_“Uncle Gilby, I have a boo-boo!”_

It took a moment before his brain registered the voice behind him and who it belonged to, but when he felt a small hand wrap around his finger, everything became clear. He looked down at his teary eyed niece, lowering in front of her and exhaminating her body for anything wrong.

“What’s wrong? Wha happened?”

 _“Look,”_ she pointed to her knee, her bottom lip trembling. It had a small scratch on it, but no trace of blood, to his relief. “Someone pushed me to get to the door first and I fell and my knee is really hurting. Do I have to go to the hospital?”

She sniffed quietly, tears rolling down her face as Gilbert pretended to examine her knee closely. If there was something that Delly enjoyed most of all, it was when Gilbert went full on doctor mode, especially with her. He noticed that it actually calmed her down to hear it from him that everything was okay. _He’s a doctor, daddy,_ she had said once after a fall. _He’s the only one who can fix it_.

“I don’t know… I don’t see any blood, which is good. And you’re up and walking, so I think you’re going to make a full recovery.”

She looked at him, swiping the tears off of her cheeks. “Really?”

“Really. I think a kiss is the perfect medicine for it, what do you say?” She nodded, and Gilbert picked her up in his arms and dropped a kiss on her knee. “How does it feel?”

“A little better… I think Miss Anne needs to kiss it too. Her kisses always make it better too.”

Anne walked closer to them, smiling at the little girl, resting her head on Gilbert’s chest. He felt her hands on his arms, fingers gently stroking his skin as she leaned down to give Delly a kiss as well. It shouldn’t be a big deal, feeling her touch, especially when it probably wasn’t intentional, but the feeling of her warm skin, right after the moment they shared before Delly interrupted them— it was like his body was hypersensitive to anything _Anne._

“It feels nice,” he said without thinking and Anne looked at him with questioning eyes. “Uh, the kiss. Doesn’t it, Delly?”

She nodded slowly, hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

“What’s wrong?” Anne asked, cupping her cheek gently. “Does it still hurt?”

Delly shook her head. “I want to go home. I want my mommy.”

“Are you sure? We can go all the way to the end of the street if you’d like.”

 _“No,_ I want my mommy.”

“Okay, we can go home, then. We’ll just drop off Miss Anne at her place first, is that alright?”

Anne turned to face him, still so close. Gilbert could smell the light scent of her shampoo coming off of her hair. She wasn’t even touching him anymore and he could feel his heart pounding rapidly against his chest.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s not very chivalrous of Prince Eric to _not_ walk Ariel home, now, is it?”

They didn’t talk much on the way back to Anne’s house, or at least he didn’t. Anne had asked Delphine if she’d feel better if she told her a story and his niece nodded, eyes fixed on her teacher as she told a story about a queen trying to conquer her kingdom back from evil dragons.

He didn’t think he’d ever heard that one and, for a moment, he wondered if it was something appropriate for a five year old, but Delphine didn’t seem frightened, instead interested in every word she was saying. Gilbert’s mind, as much as it was interested in the story, insisted on thinking about the moment before Delphine interrupted them.

They were about to kiss, he was sure of it, even though neither of them had made a move for it to happen. He could see it in her eyes, though. The way those grey blue eyes quickly studied his lips before meeting his, a little more certain than they were before. It’d probably have been a bad idea, he gathered, to be kissing someone in the middle of the street with impressionable kids all around them and parents who wouldn’t be fond of seeing a couple of adults making out in front of them.

Gilbert wondered, though, if he’d care about any of that if she had made a move and pressed her lips against his. Not that he wouldn’t try and do the same, but Anne had something in her eyes that made him believe that impulsivity was a well known friend to her. 

But Delphine was there, regardless of injury or not, and it wouldn’t be right to make a move on someone when he was supposed to be watching his niece, or even appropriate for that someone to be her teacher. Light flirtation was one thing, but what they were about to do… 

It had been such a long time, though, since he felt any kind of attraction for someone. His last fling lasted only a couple of weeks until both of them realized their hearts weren’t really in it and moved on with their lives. Since then, work had been all he thought about. It never crossed his mind how much he missed having someone that made him feel the way Anne had made him feel this entire night.

When they got to Anne’s house, Delphine was sound asleep on Gilbert’s shoulder. In silence, he walked her to her door, just like the end of a date he was sure they wouldn't get to go on.

“Thank you for walking me home. And for the invite,” she said in a low voice, as to not wake Delphine. “It had been a while since I went trick or treating.”

“Me too. Although, I never had to stop so many times for pictures.”

Anne laughed. “Well, I’m sure with time you get used to it.”

“I hope so.” 

He could feel the tension rise in his body once more, his hand tingling for him to reach out to Anne and pull her closer against his chest. To touch her face with his hands, to run his fingers through her red locks, tilt her head back and find out if her lips felt as soft as they looked. He noticed Anne studying his face, perhaps thinking something similar to him, especially when her eyes landed on his lips, and, suddenly, it was like he hadn’t had a glass of water for so long, his mouth feeling so dry that he couldn’t help but run his tongue over his lips.

 _I know exactly what it’ll help,_ he thought, watching as Anne repeated the action. He wished he could read her mind, to know for sure that she was probably thinking the same thing he was.

But then the little girl in his arms moved slightly and he looked at Delphine for a moment before smiling up at Anne, who seemed to understand.

“Well,” he said, trying to change the mood. “Any dragons over here that need slaying?”

Anne snorted. “I think I’ll be fine, no need to worry. It was nice meeting you, though.”

“Yeah, same.” He ran his free hand through his curls, scratching the back of neck as she unlocked her door and stepped outside. “See you around.”

She waved at him, offering a smile as she moved to close the door. Gilbert turned around, walking towards the street before he heard her again.

“You know,” she said, and he looked back at her. “If you happen to watch The Little Mermaid, I’d be very interested in knowing your thoughts about Sebastian’s song.”

And, with that, she closed the door, leaving a confused Gilbert out on her porch.

When he got to Bash’s and put Delphine down in her room, Gilbert, Bash and Mary had dinner together as he told the couple how their daughter’s night had gone, trying his best not to blush or act any differently whenever he mentioned Anne. But, perhaps because they knew him incredibly well or because Gilbert wasn’t very good at keeping a smile off his face, soon enough he was telling them about his night with Anne.

As he suspected, Bash had way too much to say about it, calling him a moke for not making a move or even getting a phone number, if he felt like the moment wasn’t appropriated for anything else. After a long five minutes of Bash tearing him one, his eyes landed on Mary, who was smiling knowingly at him.

“What?” he asked, blushing slightly.

“You should go to sleep and tomorrow ask her to watch the movie with you. Maybe you could check that scene she mentioned.”

He tried to argue that that was not what she meant, but Mary was having none of it, insisting that he spend the night. _‘Just in case the baby needs you’_ , she had said, knowing very well he wouldn’t leave after that one.

 _It was a stupid, stupid idea,_ he said to himself as he got closer to the house.

As he walked to Anne's, he realized he could easily turn around, get in his car and drive home without Mary knowing. She wasn’t watching him from the front door or even following him to make sure he was doing what he said he was going to do. Even if she was, Gilbert was a grown adult, he could do whatever he felt like.

However, part of him was curious to know what would happen next, even if the scenarios in his head weren't all positive. What would she say when he knocked on her door? Would she think it was creepy to suggest watching The Little Mermaid with him? And what if he misinterpreted everything? He’d only walk out of there feeling like the stupidest man in the world.

The look of surprise on her face when she opened the door did not help his nerves at all. She looked nothing like the night before, wearing overalls barefoot, her face without any makeup, and he could see all the freckles that covered her nose. The twin braids hung over her shoulder and the urge to pull on one of them like he was one of Anne’s kindergarteners made him clench his hands into a fist to avoid doing something stupid.

“Gilbert,” she said, brows furrowing as she took him in. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh,” he groaned internally, wishing the words would come easily out of his mouth. “Um, so, I was thinking about it and yesterday you, um, said you’d love to hear my thoughts on some song from the movie, right? But how would I tell you if I had no form of contact with you, right?”

“I’m your niece’s teacher so you could see me at school. _Plus,_ you know where I live.”

Oh, this was going great. 

“Um, right. That’s… true. But _also,_ um, I thought that instead of watching on my own, you’d like to join me. So we could talk. After, you know. Things would be so much fresher in my mind that way.”

Anne bit back a smile, doing her best not to laugh at him, he noticed, and it was confirmation enough of how he wasn’t smooth at all. It wasn’t hard to hear Bash’s laugh in the back of his mind. Luckily, for him, Anne was a kinder soul than his brother and took a step back, swinging the door open so he could come in.

With popcorn in hand, Anne and Gilbert sat next to each other on her couch, watching the movie intently, and when Sebastian’s song started, instructing Eric to _kiss the girl,_ Gilbert followed through.

* * *

_“Gilbert, they’re going to be here any minute.”_ Anne said, giggling, as he pressed another kiss on her neck.

In the year since he’d met Anne, a lot of things had changed. To begin with: his relationship status. After their first non-date date – or, well, his successful attempt at making a move – it didn’t take long for their relationship to develop. From their sweet first kiss to their awful real first date and, finally, their embarrassing family dinner three months into their relationship, Gilbert’s feelings towards Anne only grew.

Sometimes Gilbert thought about the previous Halloween and couldn’t believe how for the entire night he’d resisted the urge to kiss that brilliant girl standing in front of him.

Of course, he’d managed to compensate for that evening ever since.

Being in a relationship with Anne was a breath of fresh air, he thought at some point. There wasn’t a single day that he wasn’t amazed by her. It wasn’t always easy, of course, especially considering how Gilbert’s logical whims didn’t always line up with Anne’s imaginative mind. Sometimes he was too practical or Anne wasn’t realistic enough and plenty of arguments and a few fights started late at night when both of them were too emotionally drained to do anything but fight.

But then there were always the moments that made his heart skip a beat, because how could it not? Anne managed to get him out of his comfort zone, to try, read, _do_ something new, something that had never crossed his mind. Or even the smallest of things— such as how she started to buy apple juice for when he came over, or how she always let him sleep late whenever either one of them spent the night to make sure he was well rested, or that she made him and Delly flower crowns whenever they went to the park together, or even their little crossword puzzle competition every Sunday morning.

With his past relationships, things started slow. First, the attraction, next the thought that maybe he liked them in a slightly different way than friendship and finally thinking he was in love. _Love._ Now he wondered how he could think that he was in love with someone when his feelings for them were nothing compared to what he was feeling right now. With Anne, love had been there since day one. He could still see how outraged she was when Delly told her he didn’t like Halloween or the way she smiled at him when he had quoted Tennyson. Back then, Gilbert wasn’t sure why he was acting like an idiot around her, but now he was more than sure.

God, he loved Anne so damn much.

“We still have time,” he answered, his mouth seeking that spot above the collar of her dress, where he could feel her shiver with the contact. He loved the effect he had on her, but more than that, Gilbert loved the effect she had on him. “Leaving the house with a baby takes a while.”

Her hands moved from his shoulder to his neck, pulling him closer to her face and capturing his lips with hers. His skin was on fire, with every brush of her fingers on the back of his neck, drawing small circles that made him shiver and want _more._ Gilbert knew that things couldn’t go any further than that— they had some time but not _that_ kind of time— but it was hard not to think about it when he could feel all of her against him.

If he could spend his days just kissing her, Gilbert was sure he wouldn’t want to ever do anything else.

“You’re going to ruin my makeup,” she groaned, hands buried in his curls, arching her back to feel more of him. “Or, worse, yours.”

“I’m being careful, Carrots,” he said, kissing her again. “Or, should I say, Pumpkin?”

Anne frowned, wrinkling her nose, an amusing smile pulling at her lips. “Pumpkin?”

“Yeah, you know, for October.” He explained. “It’s more festive.”

Anne rolled her eyes. “I’m so glad we’re at a point in our relationship where I get to have seasonal vegetables nicknames.”

He laughed, looking down at her. Even with all the makeup on her face to make her look like a rag doll, Gilbert could still see the slight blush on her cheeks whenever he called her by his favorite nickname. That year, he and Anne had decided on another couple’s costume, now with both of them fully aware of it.

Anne, at first, was adamant on dressing as Peter Pan and Wendy, a movie both of them had watched and were fans of, but then he realized she was planning on dressing him up as Wendy, and that was a quick veto. Not even Anne’s arguments that _Wendy has curls just like yours, Gilbert_ were enough to convince him.

After that, he had suggested that they dressed as a farmer and a carrot, and Gilbert was lucky he hadn’t had to sleep on the couch that night.

The idea of dressing up as Sally and Jack Skellington, from The Nightmare Before Christmas, came from Delphine, who was now obsessed with the movie. Anne was so excited about doing such complex sewing _and_ makeup, Gilbert didn’t have it in him to veto the idea, even if that meant he had to wear a tie and makeup for an entire evening.

“I’ll make a list and we can go over them together later. It doesn’t have to be vegetables, per se, it can always be fruits as well.”

“Lucky me, then.” Anne said, grinning. “For loving someone who clearly has a vegetable kink.”

“Lucky _me,_ to be loved by the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Anne’s face softened, as she looked at him. Gilbert loved those moments, when she looked at him with such tenderness, he could hear every word unsaid. It was a rare occurrence where Anne chose not to express her thoughts and feelings out loud and as much as he loved to listen to them, Gilbert kept those moments of silence close to his heart. Because, to have her choose not to say something, speak louder than anything else.

Her hands moved to his face, thumbs stroking his cheeks and slowly pulling him to a slow kiss. Gilbert was sure right then that the chances of them leaving that couch was slim to none if they hadn’t been interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on their door. With a groan of frustration, he pulled away from her, resting his head on her shoulder. 

“Do you think if we keep really quiet, they’ll go away?” he asked, looking at Anne.

 _“Uncle Gilby, I have to pee!!”_ Delphine yelled from the other side of the door, making Anne laugh.

“She has to pee, Uncle Gilby,” Anne said, before stealing a quick kiss from her boyfriend and moving out from under him to get up. “And I have to put on my lipstick again, for _your_ sake.”

“My sake?”

“Don’t think Bash won’t know.”

 _“Uncle Gilbert!”_ The insistent knock from his niece continued, with more urgency. _“Open up!”_

Anne smiled, heading to their bedroom. Gilbert smiled as he watched her trying to fix her dress. Not even five seconds later, he heard the doorbell persistently ringing, and made his way to answer the door. He barely saw Delphine, before she ran inside to the bathroom in her Dorothy costume.

“If she pees herself, you’re responsible for helping her take that costume I spent the last month sewing off,” Mary said, smiling up at him. Keeping up with the theme, she was dressed as Glinda, the good witch, and in her arms, a little lion sucking on his thumb.

“I didn’t take that long to answer the door,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Did I, brave little Henry?”

The baby smiled at him, hiding his face on his mother’s neck. “I think that’s a yes, then.”

Gilbert smiled at his eight month old nephew. As much as Delphine was the spitting image of her mother, Henry looked exactly like his father, which pleased Bash to no end. Gilbert still remembered when Bash’s mother looked at her second grandchild for the first time, before shaking her head and looking straight at Mary and telling her, in a warning tone that _this one is going to give you trouble, just like his father._

She wasn’t wrong, to be honest.

Bash was the last one to get inside, dressed as a scarecrow and carrying two bags that Gilbert assumed was full of stuff for the baby.

“I forgot, at what age do they stop needing all of this?” he asked, putting the bags down.

“I think it’s a couple of more years, love.” Mary answered. “You carried Delly’s stuff up until she was almost four, remember?”

He groaned.

“That’s fast, isn’t it, Mary? As a medical professional, I can tell you that since girls tend to be independent faster than boys, you might be carrying all that up until he’s at least five.”

His brother glared at him. “Just you wait until it’s your turn, Blythe. You will have no sympathy coming from me.”

Before he could say anything, he heard his niece coming back to the living room, hand in hand with Anne.

“...and then I told Lana about my costume in class and she said it doesn’t count as Dorothy if I don’t have Toto with me and then I told daddy that we have to have a dog, but he says we can’t and now I’m afraid people won’t know who I am.”

“I think you look exactly like Dorothy, even without Toto.” Anne said, offering her an encouraging smile.

“Really?” Anne nodded and his niece looked at him. “Do you think I look like Dorothy, Uncle Gilby?”

“Are you kidding? You look so much like her, I thought she was the one peeing in my bathroom.” Delphine giggled, hugging her uncle. “What do you think about _my_ costume, though?”

“I think you _almost_ look like Jack.”

“Almost?” he frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“He doesn’t have any hair. What if people don’t know who you’re supposed to be?”

“Oh, but that’s fixable, isn’t it, Blythe?” Bash said, grinning. “Anne, do you happen to have a pair of scissors?”

Gilbert glared at his brother, standing up before his niece had any funny ideas. “I think we should go, actually. We don’t want to be late and miss all the good candy, right, Delly?”

“Before any of that,” Mary said, handing the baby to Anne and pulling her daughter closer. “Let me just fix that bow on your head and on your dress.”

Bash laughed, taking advantage of the girls focusing on the children to pull Gilbert aside. He stared at his brother, shooting him a warning look that he better keep his mouth shut. Gilbert was notoriously known not to be subtle but he had managed to keep his cool so far and the last thing he needed was Bash ruining it for him.

“So,” he started, crossing his arms. “I hope you don’t forget to bring your _keys._ Did you put them in your pocket already?”

“Yes, they’re inside my jacket.”

“You better not lose it, then. I would hate to spend an entire afternoon in my attic looking for _your mother’s keys_ just so you lose it today.” Gilbert rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but to brush his hand on his pocket and feel the little box just above his heart, his mother’s ring safe and sound inside of it.

Bash patted him on the back. “Nervous?”

Gilbert looked at Anne, talking to baby Henry and making him laugh in her arms. He thought about the part year they’ve been together and how he never felt more loved and safe than he felt now. There are no reasons why he should feel nervous because it’s _Anne._ His heart was entirely hers and there isn’t a place where he’d rather be than with her, for all his life.

“No,” he answered without taking his eyes off of Anne. “Not at all.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I'm especially excited for this one because I never remember a Holiday is coming up until like a week before and I never find the time or the inspiration to write something for it. But not this one. By the end of September, I fully remembered and I planned for it, so here you go.
> 
> This idea (although slightly changed by me, who can't follow and outline to save her life) was given to me by Rachel, so I have to thank her for getting me started. I absolutely loved writing this and I'm very thankful for your help. I also would love to thank Ela, who made sure none of this was ooc and texted me while she was reading. It was amazing.  
> And, finally, a huge thank you for the bless that my beautiful beta, Sabrina, is. I tried to finish this with plenty of time for her to beta but I failed and she did an amazing job, as always.
> 
> Ps: We don't do Halloween over here so I felt like writing this fic was a way for me to learn new stuff and be outraged by many others. Who knew you don't do any tricks? Very disappointed. 
> 
> I hope you all liked this as much as I did and I can't wait to read your thoughts on it. Tell me, what costumes would you like to see Gilbert and Anne wearing?
> 
> Lots and lots of live,
> 
> Fer  
> anneshirlei - tumblr  
> lillieswho- twitter


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